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Rhetoric vs. Reality

During one of the recent Republican Presidential debates in Florida, a woman in the audience shared her story and asked a simple question:

My name is Lynn Frazier and I live here in Jacksonville. I found myself unemployed for the first time in 10 years and unable to afford health care benefits. What type of hope can you promise me and others in my position?

None of the candidates responded to Lynn's question but, instead, they used it as an opportunity pledge to dismantle health reform immediately. Not one candidate explained that the Affordable Care Act would, in fact, offer her and an estimated 34 million low and middle-income Americans low to no-cost health insurance beginning in 2014. [1]

Your story doesn't have to be dramatic, long or well-written to be powerful. You have a story to tell if...

* You sleep better at night knowing that your child won't be excluded from health coverage due to pre-existing conditions and that you'll have the same protections in 2014.

* Your young adult child (up to age 26) has been able to remain on your family coverage (or your teenager will be covered in the future).

* You work for or own a small business that has been able to take advantage of health insurance tax credits.

* You have coverage as part of new state Preexisting Condition Insurance Programs.

* You and your family members will not be subject to lifetime limits on care.

* You no longer have co-pays for preventative health services including mammograms, breastfeeding supplies & services, and birth control.

* You expect to be eligible for health programs or tax credits that will make coverage more affordable in 2014.

Sharing your experiences will make a huge difference in keeping health care moving forward. Too often elected officials don't understand what's really going on with families. It's up to us to tell them.

From the stories we've received thus far from every state in the nation, we know that the Affordable Care Act is already making a critical difference in the lives of families. We also know that many other families are desperately hanging on until 2014 when all the provisions of health care reform will go into effect.

Yet with so many politicians vowing to repeal the Affordable Care Act in order to score quick political points, we may never be able to reap the full benefits of the Affordable Care Act, which will go into full effect in 2014. Now is the time to change the public conversation about the need and promise for health reform.

MomsRising will bring your stories directly to legislators and the public. Already, MomsRising members have shared their stories with President Obama, the Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, the First Lady, and leaders of Congress. They have been featured on news reports by ABC World News Tonight, NPR, CNN, the PBS Newshour, and in many local papers where members have submitted their stories as letters to the editor.

But even if you don't want to share your experiences with the media, it is important for us to be able to show our public officials that the Affordable Care Act is helping families across the country. (You can share your story by first name and city and state only.) The more stories we collect, the more effective we will be in demonstrating why implementation of the full Affordable Care Act must move ahead.

Please take a moment to forward this email to family and friends who may also want to share their experiences.

We'll continue to make sure your stories are heard and that we build support for moving forward the health of all Americans!

The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of MomsRising.org.

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